Ben Affleck says Netflix’s ‘assembly line’ approach to high-quality movies is an ‘impossible job’



CNN

Ben Affleck is looking at how movies are made in today’s age of Netflix and other streaming platforms, which offer an ever-expanding glut of content.

The actor, producer and director, who is starting his new film studio with friend and colleague Matt Damon and RedBird Capital Partners, shared his thoughts on Netflix’s approach to filmmaking, which he likens to ” assembly line”.

Making a movie “is a thing that requires attention and dedication and work, and it resists that assembly line process,” Affleck shared about Netflix last week at the New York Times’ 2022 DealBook conference.

“[Netflix’s head of original films] Scott Stuber is a very talented, intelligent guy, and I really like him … but it’s an impossible job,” he added.

The “Argo” star also said that if you asked Netflix co-CEO and chairman Reed Hastings about their ambition to make 50 great movies, “he’d say, ‘Hey, we’re after quantity. It’s about building a footprint.'” I’m sure there’s intelligence in it, I’m sure they have a good strategy, but I would say, ‘How do we make 50 great movies a year? how can that be? Not a large enough committee. It’s not enough – you just can’t do it. ”

Affleck admits, “Action movies have more audiences than small dramas. I get it. Some genres play more broadly, you don’t care about that. But let’s do a good one and surprise the audience, Let them care about it.”

With Artists Equity billed as a creator-led studio, Affleck and company wanted to reimagine the relationship between studios, artists, and those working in the industry.

As seen on Variety, Artists Equity already has its first production project — an as-yet-untitled series about the origins of Nike’s hugely popular Air Jordan sneaker brand. The film, written and directed by Affleck, stars Damon as the executive who signed the shoe’s endorsement deal with Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan.

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